Describing it as "absurd," the Magnolia Community Club (MCC) has joined a growing chorus of individuals, neighborhood groups and politicians who are highly critical of the proposal to move Southwest Airlines operations from Sea-Tac International Airport to Boeing Field."We're very concerned this could happen," MCC president Vic Barry said. Just how concerned is laid out in a nine-page letter the organization fired off on Aug. 1 to King County Executive Ron Sims.Sims announced the proposal in July after months of secretive talks with the low-cost carrier, and the MCC expressed surprise at his initial support of the idea.The MCC letter notes that Magnolia would be affected by the change. That's because existing air traffic to the King County International Airport, as Boeing Field is also known, has sparked noise complaints in the neighborhood for years.But the MCC also points out that the shift in Southwest Airlines operations would have an impact on other neighborhoods such as Queen Anne, West Seattle, Georgetown, Tukwila, Mount Baker, Southcenter, Kent and parts of Renton and Auburn.
Veteran Seattle Police Sergeant Lou Eagle looks like a walking billboard for the department. He is tall, fit and tanned, and his clear blue eyes and friendly face belie the fact that he is 42 years young.Eagle, born and raised in Seattle, has been a cop for 17 years. But he gets as enthusiastic as a rookie patrolman when he talks about the assignment he has had since January of this year: supervisor of the new Seattle Center-Queen Anne bicycle patrol, four officers strong, counting Eagle himself.There have always been cops assigned to Seattle Center. In fact, years ago, there was a 12-officer detachment, looked after by two sergeants. Things were scaled down to the four officers a few years ago, but it is only this year that Lower Queen Anne and the 72 acres of the Seattle Center are patrolled by cops on bikes.
STEVEN STUART"I think that they may help business around here and the economy."HANS MENSSEN"We don't like them at all. We are Europeans, and this morning there were fighter planes flying so low and so close to our home. It was really frightening."CORNELIA MENSSEN"I hate them. They are so loud. It doesn't make much sense."
Red Velvet Cake. I love the name. It conjures up all kinds of images, from tacky to decadent. I love the cake, as well. Although Red Velvet Cake has its own tradition in the Deep South, it's just as pretty and tasty when served up here in the Pacific Northwest. The first cut is always a delight: bright, red cake peeking out from the white, cream-cheese frosting. The color may be unusual, but the mild, chocolate flavor of this moist cake appeals to virtually everyone. Before you read the recipe, be aware that this is not gourmet cooking. At least, not the way I make it. Because my baking skills are somewhat wanting - all good bakers seem to possess a level of patience and attention to detail that elude me - I seldom make cakes from scratch. For that reason, this is a simple and quick recipe that starts with a mix. The result is a lovely, delicious dessert that's worthy of any picnic or celebration... or just a lazy, summer evening.
It's a sultry Mexican resort that greets the audience in ACT's downstairs theater. On stage is a rambling, stuccoed hotel, somewhat rundown perhaps, but comfortable, restful. There's a hammock on its large, tiled terrace. Tropical plants abound. Surely this is a spot where sunny vacations will result in happy memories. Don't count on it. This is a Tennessee Williams play."Night of the Iguana" is vintage Williams. It deals with depravity and decadence, the emotional ravages of self-deceit and the dilemma of who we are versus who we wish we were. It's tough stuff, yet Williams' compassionate exploration of these issues, his elegiac language and his caustic humor make the play an American classic.
Keshayla Lunceford (left) and Shaniyah Frazier receive an animal balloon courtesy of Sassafrass T. Clown during the second annual East Precinct Picnic on Saturday, Aug. 13. The event featured station tours, food and drink and a chance for the community and its police officers to meet in an informal setting.
ing County Prosecutor Norm Maleng wants to get tough on auto thieves, according to a Car Theft Initiative (CTI) he announced at a press con-ference last week. The CTI is the result of several months' work, the Magnolia resident said in a later interview. But Maleng also said the push to crack down on car thieves was given additional impetus by a discussion he and Assistant Chief Criminal Deputy Kathy Van Olst had a couple of months ago with former Magnolia Chamber of Commerce president Dan Bartlett and current Magnolia Community Club president Vic Barry.
Live entertainment, children's activities, playground-design workshops and a local volunteer-opportunity fair welcomed friends and neighbors to Ravenna on July 30 to celebrate Ravenna Park and Neighborhood Matters, a partnership between Safeco Insurance and the YMCA that unites communities to benefit their younger residents.The event focused on redesigning Ravenna Park's playground and teaching the community ways to build a safer, stronger neighborhood that improves local quality of life.
In early July, Captain Landy Black took over the reins as East Precinct commander from Captain Mike Meehan. Originally from Ohio, Black spent six years in the military. He was stationed at Fort Lewis when he left the service, decided he liked the area and has called Seattle home ever since. He finished university and was hired by the Seattle Police Department in 1982.he was called up to active duty as a reservist during the current Iraq war. He served for one year in Washington, D.C. until January 2004.Upon his return, Black was reassigned to the robbery, fugitive and gang unit, a position he held until his promotion to captain this June. He was assigned to the East Precinct in July. Black recently spoke with Capitol Hill Times editor Doug Schwartz about his new position and the challenges he faces. Inside is the second of a two-part interview.
Where I live on Capitol Hill, the drug addicts hanging out on the street corners and sitting on the steps of my apartment building can paint a sad picture of the fragility of human life. I sit at my dining table and watch through my front window the comings and goings of people looking for a fix. Sometimes I get overwhelmed and frustrated at how destructive and neglectful people can be with their own lives, with the lives of their loved ones. I'm sure the depleted souls who hang out on the corner, waiting for the crack car, grew up with parents who were just as destructive.
Members of the Kansas City chapter of Bound 4 Life take part in a three-day anti-abortion protest at the Planned Parenthood clinic at 2001 E. Madison St., on Saturday, Aug. 13.
To the editor: Upon coming home from vacation, I was shocked to read in the Capitol Hill Times that the Sound Transit board, which spent $25 million studying mass transit, has now after all these years decided that we will not have a station on First Hill, one of the most strategically important areas of the city. This decision demonstrates that the Sound Transport board and the politicians behind it have been married so long to the idea of providing Seattle with an "underground" that they have lost sight of the raison d'etre of mass transit. The raison d'etre is not to create jobs, although that is a nice by-product, or to have a status symbol thereby making Seattle a "trophy" city. Nor is it to pay back the construction industry for whatever favors they may have done. The raison d'etre is to move people from one place to another by whatever means is logistically and economically feasible. Sound Transit does neither. Planning street level trains is a fiasco. Streetcars exacerbates traffic congestion and isn't any faster than going by bus or car. They are obsolete, dating from the days of horse and buggy, when there were few cars on the road. The Sound Transit board seems to be totally unaware of the necessary pre-conditions for cost-effective "undergrounds." Those pre-conditions are extremely high density and advantageous soil conditions. Manhattan meets both pre-conditions. Chicago has reasonable density but is built on marsh, hence the use of mostly "overground" rail. Seattle, with its low density and unsuitable soil conditions, really should never have been considered for an underground. The most important criterion for deciding how to do things is not to persevere with an unworkable plan but to meet the transportation needs of the city, to connect residential neighborhoods with places of work. If you can't do that, don't spend money to create the illusion that the problem is being solved. Since we don't have density or optimal soil conditions then it makes more sense to have an overground system . And for pity's sake connect us to the airport!Here are some alternatives.1) Check out whether a monorail could be built on the same route as Sound Transit with the appropriate stops. (And First Hillcannot be bypassed!!!!)2) Combine underground and overground. Subways in big cities such as London, New York and Paris etc. all combine underground in the city center and become overground in the outlying areas. Again, there is no reason to build it if you can't have the right stops. 3) Bizarre as it may seem, it might be a good idea to have more bus tunnels and then overground bus lanes away from traffic. When I contemplate how very absurd this announcement is, I cannot help thinking that it is all reminiscent of the joke about heaven and hell. In heaven the barristas and bakers are Seattleites, but in hell the Seattelites are the town planners and school administrators who live in a special part of hell reserved for bureaucrats who irresponsibly waste money. The absurdity follows the logic of a bad architect. A bad architect will build a room without a door, which prevents anyone from using it. The same logic is being applied by Sound Transit. It seems to be that some heads have to roll on the Sound Transit board. Soil conditions are the first thing you look for, not the last. Ellen TaftCapitol Hill
Although the official opening is Wednesday, Aug. 17, the 5th Avenue Theatre has been promoting "Princesses" for months. They are hoping for another "Hairspray," a Broadway bonanza of awards and critical acclaim that started in Seattle.David Armstrong, the 5th Avenue's artistic director, has been fostering new musicals at his theater for many years. A Capitol Hill resident and Seattle's closest thing to Hal Prince, Armstrong invited the "Princesses" team to explain this latest venture at a Spotlight subscriber night in June.
Negotiations are underway over a deal that would see the Union 76 service station at the top of Queen Anne Hill sold, closed and replaced with a combination of apartments and retail space, say those involved.Owner Tom Kettwig stressed that the sale is far from closed, but planning for the project got a start a couple of weeks ago when preliminary plans were discussed at a city design-review meeting. Magnolia resident Joe Geivett is the developer, and he said his plan calls for three floors of apartments above 12,000 square feet of ground-level retail space and two levels of underground parking with 80 spots.
Seattle Parks and Recreation has gone into the design phase for a new, $900,000 skateboard park and basketball court on Elliott Avenue West next to King County's newly completed Combined Sewer Overflow project. The new skateboard park and basketball court are meant to replace the existing ones at the Seattle Center when they're torn down to make room for the world headquarters of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but not everyone thinks the new location is suitable. Opponents include Parents for Skateparks, a grassroots organization whose members demonstrated at the site on Aug. 10, and Seattle City Council member Richard Conlin, who says the city should build the new facility next to Memorial Stadium at the Seattle Center.